Miskito (Mískitu)

Miskito is a Misumalpan language spoken by about 180,000 in the northeast of Nicaragua and the east of Honduras. Miskito is related to and contains loanwords from other Misumalpan languages such as Sumo and Matagalpan, and also from English and Spanish.

For much of the 20th century Miskito-speaking children were forbidden to speak Miskito in schools and had to speak Spanish. However since the 1990s groups in Honduras have lobbied the national government to make indigenous language legal in schools. Eventually a pilot bilingual education was set up and has since been extended for more than 20 schools.

Miskito alphabet and pronunciation

Sample text in Miskito

Upla sut ba kulkanka lakara, airaitka nanira bara pri, sin, aikuki, baku takisa. Bamna sins laka bri baku, lukanka bain pri baku aimuihni lakara, pana pana tabaikan kaiasa.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Tower of Babel in Miskito